Danni Williams made two three-pointers in the middle of the fourth quarter to lead the Texas A&M women’s basketball team to an 83-65 win over the Houston Cougars on Friday in the first round of the Preseason Women’s National Invitation Tournament at Reed Arena.
Williams was the lead scorer for A&M with 21 points. The junior guard was 7-of-13 on the night with five three-pointers. Two of her three-pointers came in the first four minutes of play.
Senior Khaalia Hillsman was also a top scorer with 19 points, and recorded a double-double with 11 rebounds.
Two more Aggies had double-digit points, including freshman Chennedy Carter, who accounted for 15 of the Aggies’ points, 11 coming off of free throws. Junior Anriel Howard followed with 11 points.
A Houston three-pointer opened the fourth quarter, making the score 60-56. The six points from Williams pushed the Aggies ahead by 12 points, where they would remain comfortably in the lead for the rest of the night.
The Aggie defense shut down the Cougars in the fourth quarter, allowing only 12 points.
Eleven-consecutive Aggie free throws closed out the game, propelling the Aggies to a 83-65 victory.
The Aggies opened the first quarter of play on a 7-0 scoring run, with Hillsman contributing four of those points. Hillsman scored four more times in the opening frame to secure the Aggie lead.
Several missed field goals by Houston helped the Aggies maintain an 11-point advantage throughout first quarter to lead into the second 30-19. Houston made only nine of their 20 attempted field goals in the first frame, compared to A&M’s 10-of-13.
The Aggies began to struggle in the second quarter, putting up only 18 points. The Cougars matched the Aggies in points, making the halftime score 48-37.
The Aggies faltered in the third quarter, shooting only 16.7 percent. A&M made just two field goals on twelve attempts, instead relying on success at the free throw line to carry them to victory. Of the 35 points scored in the second half, 21 were on free throws.
Houston opened the second half with a three-pointer by Dorian Branch to cut the Aggie lead to eight points, the smallest margin since the 3:52 mark of the first quarter. Houston pulled within six with an Angela Harris layup.
The Cougars were unable to capitalize, however, as the Aggies broke away after two consecutive three-pointers by Williams.
The Aggies will host Louisiana-Lafayette at 2 p.m. on Sunday. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 1-0 after Friday’s 66-57 defeat of the New Orleans Privateers.